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Fields of Interest:

By the early nineteenth century, slaves had begun to change their strategies for resistance. Overt violent resistance such as rebellions and mass escapes declined, instead they increased their efforts to establish and maintain institutions that would ensure their individual and collective survival. In contrast to earlier generations of slaves, their tactics were multi-pronged: to create viable families, to foster a sustaining faith, and to nurture the strength and wherewithal to withstand the physical and excruciating psychological demands of a cruel institution. However one measures the contest between enslaver and enslaved, during the most hopeless days of slavery and even in some of its most brutalizing locations, enslaved African Americans, always more patient and resilient than their owners, scored some notable victories.

My current project presents the enslaved as patient, hardworking subversives who were able to shape their world as they prepared themselves for freedom. It looks at the work environment, family life, and religious and health practices of the slaves as each of these areas was important to them because they provided the enslaved with the cultural tools with which to ensure more than mere survival of an awful system of human exploitation.

Graduate Fields:

I offer the following fields for the PhD qualifying examination. For explanations of fields, see the "Graduate Overview" page in the Graduate Handbook.